A Dallas Dining Deep Dive — Why the Bread at Georgie is So Addictively Good
A Five-Ingredient Masterpiece on Travis Street
BY Caitlin Clark // 02.07.23At Georgie, the filet is great, but the bread and French butter service is simply beyond. (food photo by BECKLEY / graphic by PaperCity)
There’s a reason Georgie is on heavy rotation for so many Dallasites. Yes, it’s the first Texas restaurant from famed Australian chef Curtis Stone. And yes, its art-deco glam interiors earned it a spot on Robb Report’s 11 most beautiful new restaurants in America upon its debut. But beyond the luxe pedigree and that $390 steak, Georgie delivers on something far more elusive than a high-profile opening in Dallas. Thanks in part to a great menu and top-tier hospitality, Georgie makes fine dining feel like a refreshingly laid-back affair. That being said, I’d like to take this post to argue for another significant player in the Knox Street restaurant’s success — and the only part of the experience that’s free: the house bread service.
I have evidence to back up my theory. After a recent visit to Georgie, I couldn’t stop thinking about the bread. Surely this was some sort of restaurant bread holy grail. I took to the internet, where gushing, bread-specific reviews validated my belief.
“The star was the bread! Lovely crust, heavenly pull apart center…” wrote one Trip Advisor review…
“The hero of the meal was the bread and butter service. Freshly prepared and baked individually, it was the best bread I’ve had at a restaurant, hands down,” claimed another on Restaurant Guru….
“OKAY, the bread here is BOMB. Do Not Skip!” was a shared sentiment on Yelp.
I could go on and on but you get the gist.
And then, of course, there’s my own account. After absolutely losing our minds over the bread at Georgie the first time we visited, our wonderful waiter, DJ, let us take a loaf home. The next day, my partner’s 6-year-old daughter tried it in grilled cheese form and called it “pure happiness.”
“We make it fresh in-house every day,” shared executive chef Christian Dortch over email. “A traditional Italian style bread translated to ‘stick’ is made up of five ingredients and the secret is the long fermentation. We use high-quality olive oil and high-gluten flour. The trick is to not overwork the dough yet stitching, stretching, and deflating it is essential. Our butter is imported from France and made with extremely high-end milk fat that — believe it or not — is still produced by churning.”
On a more recent visit, our waiter, a recent addition by way of Carte Blanche, offered even more. “We mix all the ingredients and let it rise overnight,” they said after I shared my obsession. The loaves are then brushed with olive oil and salt several times and baked individually right before each one comes out.
It’s nice to know that something so great has been lavished with care and salt. Presumably, you can score the same high-quality carbs in sandwich form at Georgie’s Butcher Shop, and word has it the bread is also quite excellent at the newly opened Quarter Acre, whose chef and owner was mostly recently executive chef at Georgie. The more killer bread the merrier I say.